Regret
by Romione4Life
Summary: Lavender Brown and Padma Patil were enemies throughout the years they spent at Hogwarts - and it wasn't until it was too late that Padma realized her mistakes.


**Author's Note: This is a story written for round one of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition in which Padma and Lavender are enemies. The prompts I used are mirror, fashion, and dialogue: "Ahhh, nostalgia. How sweet you are."**

* * *

Padma Patil stared at herself in the mirror. Her clothes were torn, her face was streaked with dirt, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. She wasn't a pretty sight, but what really scared Padma wasn't the reflection she saw in the mirror. It was what she saw on the inside.

The battle might have ended, but Padma's brain was still in chaos. Feelings of guilt and remorse consumed her, and she wished she could take it all back.

* * *

_"Where should we sit?" eleven-year-old Padma whispered to her twin sister, Parvati as they walked through the Hogwarts Express. "We don't know anyone."_

_ "I'm sure we could find someone nice to sit with," Parvati replied confidently. "Look, how about this girl right here?"_

_ She pointed to a girl with curly blonde hair who appeared to be about their age. The girl smiled at them and motioned for them to join her._

_ "Hello," the girl said cheerfully as Parvati and Padma seated themselves in her compartment. "I'm Lavender Brown."_

_ "I'm Parvati Patil, and this is my sister, Padma," Parvati said. "Is this your first year at Hogwarts, too?"_

_ "Yes! I'm so excited," Lavender said._

_ "Do you know which house you'd like to be Sorted into?" Parvati asked._

_ "I'd love to be in Gryffindor, the house of the brave and daring! I've heard it's the best house to be in. What about you two?" _

_ "We want to be in Ravenclaw, don't we, Parvati?" Padma said, finally speaking up._

_ "Well… Yes, but I'd like being in Gryffindor, too," Parvati said, glancing at Lavender._

_ Padma's brow furrowed. She and Parvati had had their hearts set on being Sorted into Ravenclaw for weeks! Why would her sister suddenly change her mind?_

_ Deciding that she was overthinking the situation, Padma shrugged and focused back on the conversation. There was probably nothing to worry about._

* * *

_ "Patil, Padma!"_

_ Padma gulped as Professor McGonagall called out her name. She made her way up to the stool and took a deep breath as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head._

_ "Hmm," the hat whispered in Padma's ear. "You have a very clever mind, I see, as well as a strong desire to learn. There's only one place for you…"_

_ "RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat shouted to the Great Hall, and the Ravenclaw table erupted in cheers. Padma sighed with relief and hurried to take her seat beside those who had been Sorted into Ravenclaw previously. _

_ "Patil, Parvati!" Professor McGonagall said. Parvati came forward and had the hat dropped onto her head. Padma looked at her nervously; over at the Gryffindor table, Lavender Brown did the same._

_ "GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat announced. As more applause broke out, Padma's face fell. She watched miserably as Parvati sat next to Lavender. And then, as if she were rubbing salt in her wound, Lavender caught Padma's eye and grinned broadly._

_ Padma fought to keep herself from crying. _So what if Parvati isn't in the same house as you? _she told herself. _At least you'll still see her.

_But she couldn't get the look on Lavender's face out of her mind. It was like Lavender was stealing Parvati away from her – and she knew it._

* * *

_ Months passed, and Padma was forced to watch as Parvati grew closer to Lavender and, as a result, further from her. But she stayed quiet and kept her suffering to herself – that is, until the Christmas holidays came._

_ "Parvati!" Padma called one day, racing to the bedroom the twins shared. "Mum says she – oh." Padma broke off abruptly as she saw who was with Parvati. Lavender Brown was standing beside Parvati in front of the mirror. Both girls were wearing strange outfits._

_ "What are you doing here?" Padma asked._

_ "Lavender brought over some clothes for us to try on!" Parvati said breathlessly._

_ Padma wrinkled her nose. "Since when are you interested in fashion?"_

_ "But these are so unique! Lavender says they're fashionable in the Muggle world," Parvati explained. "Don't you think they're –"_

_ "Mum needs to talk to you. Now," Padma interrupted. She waited until Parvati had left the room before rounding on Lavender._

_ "All right, Lavender. What are you doing to my sister?" Padma demanded._

_ "I don't know what you're talking about," Lavender said innocently._

_ "You know exactly what I'm talking about," Padma hissed. "You've taken her away from me and turned her into a completely different person. I want the old Parvati back."_

_ "I think that if Parvati wanted to be her old self, then that's who she would be. I'm not controlling her, and neither should you. She's perfectly capable of making her own decisions." With that, Lavender turned away, apparently indicating that the conversation was finished. Padma spun on her heel and strode out the door._

_ "This isn't over," she muttered, but whether or not Lavender actually heard her, she would never know._

* * *

_ The war between Padma and Lavender only grew bigger from there. Their efforts to annoy one another became less and less subtle until the other students began to take notice._

_ There was one day when Padma was walking through the corridors, talking with Mandy Brocklehurst. All of a sudden, Lavender came by and bumped into Padma, knocking her to the floor. Several objects spilled out of Lavender's bag, including an ink bottle that burst upon hitting the floor and splattered Padma with ink._

_ "Oops!" Lavender said brightly, giggling. "I'm so sorry!" She quickly scooped up her dropped belongings and hurried off, leaving Mandy to help Padma clean herself up._

_ A few days later, Padma got her revenge. She approached Lavender and said, "Excuse me, would you mind holding my book while I check my bag? I think I might have left my Charms homework in the dormitory."_

_ Before Lavender could protest, Padma handed her a large book, which turned out to be _The Monster Book of Monsters._ Lavender shrieked as the vicious book snapped at her, nearly biting off her finger._

_ "Oops!" Padma said, mimicking Lavender's high-pitched voice. She ran her finger down the monster book's spine, effectively calming it, and smiled sweetly at Lavender._

_ Unfortunately, Padma's triumph was short-lived. Parvati walked up just then._

_ "Parvati! I'm glad I saw you. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the library with me today after dinner," Padma said._

_ "That sounds great!" Parvati said. Lavender's eyes narrowed._

_ "Actually, Parvati and I already have plans," she said. "We're going to go see Professor Trelawney, aren't we?"_

_ "Oh," Parvati said, seeming confused. "That's right. I completely forgot. Sorry, Padma. Maybe tomorrow night?"_

_ "Sure," Padma said, feeling deflated. From the look on Parvati's face, she was almost certain Lavender had made up plans, and Parvati was merely trying not to hurt her feelings._

_ "Great!" Parvati said. "See you later." With that, she wandered. Lavender followed her, but not before she winked at Padma and waved. And once again, Padma was left to watch dejectedly as her sister walked away._

* * *

_ Despite the ongoing feud between the two girls, it wasn't until sixth year that Padma really snapped. And it happened when Lavender started going out with Ron Weasley._

_ Ron had been Padma's date to the Yule Ball in fourth year, much to her elation. She'd never told anyone, but she'd been harboring a secret crush on him for about a year prior to that. So when the night turned out to be a disaster, she'd been devastated._

_ Lavender probably could've had any boy in the school she wanted. Why would she choose Ron when he clearly didn't have feelings for her? Padma was convinced it was because Lavender was trying to make her jealous. Finally, she decided to confront Lavender about the situation._

_ Padma cornered Lavender during one of her rare moments apart from Ron. "Who do you think you are?" she said before Lavender could speak. "I am sick and tired of you stealing people away from me."_

_ "What do you mean?" Lavender said._

_ "Don't pretend that you're clueless," Padma said. "First you stole my sister, now you stole Ron."_

_ "Wait a second," Lavender said. "Ron was never yours to begin with. You went on one date with him two years ago, and that was only because he was desperate. As for Parvati, I did not steal her from you. She's still your sister."_

_ "Hardly," Padma retorted. "We barely spend any time together anymore. I want her back."_

_ "You know what, Padma? You need to stop acting like you own people. They're free to make their own choices, okay? So will you just grow up already?"_

_ Padma glared at Lavender. "I hate you," she hissed. And wanting the final word, she stalked off._

* * *

_That was the last time Padma spoke to Lavender. The next time she even said Lavender's name was after the Battle of Hogwarts. She'd gone into the Great Hall and found Parvati sitting alone and crying._

_"Parvati!" she exclaimed, rushing over to put an arm around her sister. "What's wrong? What happened?"_

_"It's Lavender," Parvati said. "She was attacked by Greyback and… he killed her."_

_Padma was taken aback. "Lavender's dead?" she said softly. Parvati nodded. "That's unbelievable. I'm so sorry."_

_She hugged Parvati, who buried her face in Padma's shoulder and sobbed. Padma rubbed her back comfortingly. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, over and over again._

_When she spoke those words, she wasn't merely sympathizing. She was conveying an apology for all the years of being Lavender's enemy. Since she couldn't apologize directly to Lavender, this was the next best thing._

* * *

And now, Padma saw herself as a monster for the first time. Her last words to Lavender were "I hate you." They'd never made up.

She'd been so naïve those first few years at Hogwarts. Her jealousy had blinded her, causing her to misunderstand Lavender's intentions. Then, once she realized her mistake, she'd been too proud to admit it. It had taken a terrible tragedy – the death of Lavender – for her to truly acknowledge her errors.

Still studying herself in the mirror, Padma laughed bitterly. "Ahhh, nostalgia. How sweet you are."


End file.
